The Sentences of Sextus

It will be convenient to begin by summarising in succinct form, with the minimum of comment or discussion, the moral teaching of Sextus, and to reserve for subsequent enquiry the criticism of the collection and in particular the thorny problem of the sources upon which the compiler drew. The first question is to ask what Sextus says; only then can we usefully proceed to ask why he says it or where he may have found it. For the compiler of such a collection is of interest in his own right, not merely because of the sources upon which he has drawn. He has revealed himself by his selection; he thereby shows what values he believed it important to inculcate in his readers.

The single theme of the maxims, running through them in all forms and variations, is the way to achieve moral and spiritual perfection. The believing soul is to pursue the moral ideal, which is to be made like unto God (44ff.). Yet that impassible divine life is far distant from this mortal existence swayed by passion and earthiness. Accordingly, the first task of exhortation is to awaken the soul to self-realisation, to arouse it to know to how high and weighty an office it is called. Man must first reckon that the animal life of pleasure and passion is below his dignity and self-respect.